Nearly 1,000 Animals Could Starve To Death As Noida Shelter Runs Out Of Funds For Upkeep

Earlier known as SPCA, the only shelter and Animal Hospital in Noida’s Sector-94 is going through a tough time due to a tiff between the Noida authority and the volunteers of the animal shelter.

The shelter is undergoing an acute shortage of food and medicines for the hapless animals, once again affected by a deep financial crunch. That said, the authorities even withheld the salaries of those working at the centre but employees decided to volunteer.

All the employees have been working without any salary for the past three months. Due to lack of funds, the staff is unable to buy medicine and food for a shelter that has around 700 dogs and 300 cows, bulls, horses and donkeys.

This shelter was earlier known as the society for the prevention of cruelty against animals (SPCA), a non-profit organisation working on contract basis with the Noida Authority. But since January, the authorities withheld the salaries owing to complaints against SPCA.

They released a one-time fund for the shelter of Rs 20 lakh. However, the contract between the two ended in June and that’s when the problems arose. Despite running out of cash and the scrapping of the contract, all the members of the NGO volunteered to work at the shelter.

They have now been working without salaries from July. Tomorrow is the day when these animals will go without food or medicine because the shelter absolutely has no money on them. Vidhi Shukla, in charge, animal shelter claims that the shelter needs Rs 16 lakh on a monthly basis to function properly.

As for a professional, Noida authority claims to have hired a veterinary doctor who will look after the process of salary distribution.